Writing and life, not necessarily in that order

Saw Looper. Scared me to death.

Hm. It’s been a while since I last made any post. I’ve put writing aside for a while, been busy with other career oportunities. Bristol is taking a lot of my time and honestly I didn’t have anything that I would write. I’m not a person who writes about their daily lives, about going for coffee. I don’t really understand Facebook and the people’s insatiable desire to dazzle others. I guess it comes from watching TV. Oh, who am I kidding! Who watches TV anymore? It’s all Internet now, isn’t it?

So I will write about something I came across in the new Bruce Willis movie. It had some flaws but Looper was a very interesting film with some good twists. A great time-travel brain teaser. I’m sure there will be people who will criticize it just because there are some decisions taken in a certain way. It needs abit of suspended belief but other than that the movie is great.

(minor spoilers ahead)

The movie that scared me to death

The movie does contain a certain scene that shook me to the core. One of the assassins is sent back through time and is supposed to be killed by his younger self. The younger version freezes and lets the older version get away, something the organization cannot afford. So how do they resolve the situation? They grab the younger version and cut a message into his arm. The older version (on the run) suddenly has a message written in scars on his arm. The message was “Be [designated place] at [designated time].” The older version continues to run until he tries to climb a fence and realizes he’s missing a finger on his hand. In a moment two fingers are missing, then three. Next moment he has no nose. It really doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is hapenning with the younger version. The older version jumps into a car, drives like crazy to the location specified. Suddenly the foot that is pushing on the pedal is missing. And on and on…
This was the single most horrifying scene I’ve ever seen in a movie. No slasher could compare with it for one simple reason. If a person gets eviscerated in a slasher, the person would be in physical and mental shock but there wouldn’t be any time to realize the change to the body image. The victim is likely dead before being able to have an emotional crisis.
In the Looper scene, there was no pain, no trauma, simply body parts disappearing. It plays on an entirely different emotional string. The fact is we own our bodies. We relate to our body; we are conscious of our appearance. Our bond with our body is as deep as is crucial to our every day activity. To suddenly not have your body there as it was is a most profound trauma.
Our conscience does not float. It is attached to our body. We are our bodies. Our body image is a fundemental part of our self-awareness. What’s left of that man at the end of that scene… Well, you’ll just have to watch it. Or maybe I’ve done my job and scared you to death.